Bishops and Pro-Abortion Politicians

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JohnStrachan

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I am perplexed why RC Bishops don’t make a more public stand against politicians who are openly pro-choice. In particular I am offended by John Kerry. On one hand he manifestly professes to be an active RC, from Wikipedia: "Kerry is a Roman Catholic, and is said to have carried a religious rosary, a prayer book, and a St. Christopher medal (the patron saint of travelers) when he campaigned. Discussing his faith, Kerry said: “I thought of being a priest. I was very religious while at school in Switzerland. I was an altar boy and prayed all the time. I was very centered around the Mass and the church.” He also said that the Letters of Paul (Apostle Paul) moved him the most, stating that they taught him to “not feel sorry for myself.”

But his voting record on life issues is appalling. According to NARAL he has a 100% voting record. How can Bishops allow this guy to receive communion when his public actions are opposed to the moral law. This is scandalous.
 
The answer is always weak men. These bishops who say and do nothing about these politicians are simply not strong enough to be proper bishops. They may also secretly agree with these politicians. Sadly, as laity, there is almost nothing we can do. We can just pray, bring attention to these evildoers, and wait for these bishops to die off and hope for a stronger, new generation of leaders.
 
Several decades ago the laity were much stronger. They worked to defeat politicians who opposed Christian principles, whether the political was Catholic or non Catholic.

In recent years, laity have slacked off for the most part. In my state the right to life party collapsed for lack of workers. Prolife politicians find that very few of the people who prefer prolife are willing to do the tedious work to campaign in primaries for prolifers at the town level, so they can move up.

Proabortion politicians could have been excommunicated from public office by the work of the laity. But they weren’t.

The media always pushed laity to criticize the bishops. Laity are heavily.driven by media. No matter what action the bishop takes , to excommunicate or not, the media will find laity to blame the bishop.
 
I don’t think we can just say that the answer is “weak bishops”, end of story.

Some bishops legitimately feel that denying Communion to pro-abortion politicians is “weaponizing” the Eucharist and turning the Holy Sacrament into a political tool.

Now, we might disagree that such would be the case, but I can certainly see that side of it.
 
Pastoral care is on a case by case basis. There is always other info about this particular case that I do not know - no one size fits all. But rest assured, if Bishop excommunicates A, the media will interview laity who denounce the bishop for that. If he decides not to excommunicate, the media will interview other laity who denounce the bishop.
 
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I live in Canada and the Bishops are silent on just about everything. They may even feel battered down to the point where they feel neutered.
 
Bishops need not say anything except to point out Canon Law automatically excommunicates anyone who commits or funds an abortion.

That said you won’t find too many politicians who would prohibit ALL types of abortions, including that of saving the life of the mother.
 
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I think praying for our bishops (and all of our clergy) is the best response. They have a tough job that I wouldn’t want.
 
JohnStrachan said:
I live in Canada and the Bishops are silent on just about everything. They may even feel battered down to the point where they feel neutered.
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Since I am a layman, I am more interested in the laity in Canada. Are they taking action a local level to gradually elect prolifers, or are the laity passive?
 
Campaign Life Coalition tries to educate the laity, but most Catholics are really good a cognitive dissonance and don’t generally make “life issues” deal breakers at election time.
 
I think excommunication is a big deal, don’t get me wrong. But I think there are plenty of Catholics who are way too casual about abortion. It wouldn’t occur to them that they had been excommunicated and some wouldn’t care.
 
JohnStrachan said:
I think excommunication is a big deal, don’t get me wrong. But I think there are plenty of Catholics who are way too casual about abortion. It wouldn’t occur to them that they had been excommunicated and some wouldn’t care.
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Excommunication is exciting. Lots of people like to see some big shot get slapped. But the real solution is the slow, thankless, tedious work of organizing and campaigning at the grass roots level for Godly leaders.

Hardly any one wants to do that.
 
JohnStrachan said:
I am perplexed why RC Bishops don’t make a more public stand against politicians who are openly pro-choice.
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Probably because pastoral advice, counseling, and action is none of the business of the “public”. Who knows what discussions they have had privately, and why should it matter to the public? Perhaps we should concentrate on taking the plank out of our own eye before worrying about the speck in the eyes of others?
 
Why are you looking at JohnStrachan’s speck?
 
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Except that public example-making isn’t such a bad thing. What is wrong with holding politicians to account for what they say? If Kerry says blah blah blah and that he carries a rosary and prays some novena and says his faith informs his decision making - oh but he happens to have a 100% pro-choice voting record, I think he needs to be hauled on to the carpet and made an example of. This is public scandal.
 
Joe_5859 said:
Some bishops legitimately feel that denying Communion to pro-abortion politicians is “weaponizing” the Eucharist and turning the Holy Sacrament into a political tool.
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Canon 915 requires ministers to deny communion to those who meet specific criteria. It is not a suggestion, and it is not optional. The action is not dependent on the “legitimate feelings of bishops.”
 
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